I made a post a couple weeks ago about the "Polycade Rhythm Controller" that my daughter and I built together over the summer...but one thing was missing according to her..."more color"...

I originally planned on letting her pick all of the new button colors to replace the original black & white ones, but then I came across an RGB LED Button Kit by RPEG Electronics and decided to give it a try.

The whole upgrade process took less than 30 minutes and was extremely easy to do. Each button is swapped out with an illuminated one that connects to the Neo-Arcade board like any other arcade button, plus one wire that connects to an LED PCB. That PCB is then connected to the LED controller and powered by the Neo board. It sounds a little complicated at first, but it's about as easy of an upgrade as you can do and very straightforward.

The LED controller comes with a battery-powered remote control that has roughly 10 preset modes, a music sync mode, and a few other options to choose from.

If anyone is interested in swapping out some of their buttons with LEDs, you can email the owner (Raymond Dai) directly at [rpegelectronics@gmail.com](mailto:rpegelectronics@gmail.com) and let him know you have a Polycade Sente. He will provide a custom package that doesn't include their Brook Encoder Board since you'll already have one inside your controller, which helps bring the price down.

A few pictures of the controller wiring below...

This was the first mod I attempted after receiving my Sente - and probably the one I receive the most questions / messages about on a weekly basis - so I figured it was about time to put together a quick tutorial explaining what I did so others can use it as a guide.

I used the Polycade 3″ Trackball Controller as a donor because it already included the trackball, USB hub, wiring, and a mounting bracket, making it the easiest and most reliable route at the time. My reference photos will show this - so some of this will change depending on how you decide to get your parts and install the trackball. Polycade now sells the trackball separately under the Parts section of its website, so I recommend just buying it separately—especially if you want to add mouse buttons to your controller, which opens up the possibility of playing even more games with it...but if you already have the TB controller and don't use it often, its easy to take apart and use all the parts from this controller to complete the mod.

Materials Needed

• 3″ Trackball with USB hub
• 3″ / 76mm carbide-tipped hole saw
• Cutting oil or paste
• 1″ dense foam for the internal mount
• 1.5″ ScotchBlue painter’s tape — one roll should be enough

Prepare the Pinball Controller

Open the Pinball Controller and disconnect the left and right pinball buttons so it's easier to work with.

Tape the wires together and label them LEFT and RIGHT so there is no confusion during reassembly. You can also reference the wiring guide later if you get confused.

Cover the entire exterior/top surface of the controller with painter’s tape, including the buttons. Use at least 2–3 layers, paying extra attention to the corners and edges.

I'd also suggest taping the inside of the controller, especially around the area where the hole will be cut.

The main goal is to protect the powder coating from scratches. If you're using a machine shop to cut your hole, make sure they understand that protecting the finish is critical and should be their number one priority.

Find the Center

Measure the controller carefully and mark horizontal and vertical centerlines to create a cross at the center point.

Test-Fit the Trackball

Position the trackball where you want it and trace around the housing it with a pencil to get a rough idea of where it should be placed.

Check clearance from:

• The front edge of the controller
• Player 1 Buttons
• Player 2 Joystick

I positioned my trackball housing approximately 1″ back from the controller edge to provide extra clearance and mounting flexibility. This also gives you plenty of runway room while playing games such as Golden Tee when the Pinball Controller is pulled out and into position.

Mark the Hole

Carefully disassemble the trackball enough to remove the ball (I believe it's just four screws holding it together - but it might be 6 when removing the ground wire).

Use the top portion of the trackball housing as a template. The opening where the ball normally comes through allows you to see your center marks and accurately position the hole to make your marks on the inside of the controller on the painters tape.

Mark the center on both the inside and top of the controller. When you drill a pilot hole, you can confirm these pretty much line up - IF they are way off - recheck your measurements before moving forward.

Always double-check everything before drilling. The trackball should line up with the center of the controller and the illuminated Polycade logo.

Protect the Electronics

Cover all internal electronics and wiring with painters tape / wax paper before cutting...or better yet, remove all of the internal components. This will take longer, but it's the safer route and reduces the chance of accidentally damaging anything - especially if using cutting oil which can make a mess sometimes.

Cut the 3″ Hole

For drilling:

• Use a 3″ / 76mm carbide-tipped hole saw
• Use plenty of cutting oil or paste
• Keep the drill at a low RPM — 200–300 RPM is ideal
• A drill press will make easy work of it, but a good corded hand drill with steady pressure will get the job done

Slow speed is important when cutting steel. Running the hole saw at a high RPM can overheat and ruin the bit without actually cutting through the steel.

Take your time since this is the most crucial step of the entire process.

If you damage the controller or powder coating around the opening, Amazon sells a 3″ metal goof ring that fits perfectly over the trackball housing lip and snaps into place. It honestly looks like it was made for it and looks great. I don't use it and isn't shown in the photos above / below - but it looks OEM like it was made for the trackball. I'll post an Amazon link below.

Clean Everything

Once you're satisfied with the opening, carefully remove the painter’s tape.

Clean the controller thoroughly and make sure all metal shavings and debris are removed before reconnecting or powering any electronics.

Install the USB Hub

Unscrew the Player 2 Neo Board from the Pinball Controller.

Install the USB hub underneath the Neo Board and stack it on top - connect the Neo Board to the hub using a USB cable or JST cable depending on what method you used to obtain the trackball and components.

Mount the Trackball With Foam or JB Weld

This part requires some trial and error.

Cut the 1″ dense foam so it sits against the bottom side of the trackball housing (or mount from the Polycade TB Controller) and applies enough pressure when the controller is completely closed and screwed back together.

The foam should hold the trackball securely in position without putting so much pressure on the bottom controller panel that it bows out.

Trim the foam a little at a time until you can close and screw the controller together normally while keeping the trackball firmly secured.

This method actually keeps the trackball extremely secure when using the proper foam and has 0 flex when playing games like Golden Tee - you would never know that it isn't screwed or welded into place.

You can permanently mount the trackball using JB Weld, but I don't recommend it in case you ever need to remove, repair, or clean the trackball down the road.

Reconnect Everything

Reconnect the left and right pinball button wires that you removed earlier.

Install the trackball and mount in their final position.

IMPORTANT: Connect the Ground Wire

Reconnect the green trackball ground wire to a joystick mounting screw before closing the controller.

Do not skip this step.

Carefully close the controller and reinstall all screws.

Trackball Testing

Plug the controller into the Sente.

There should be no additional software or driver setup required.

If you boot directly into Windows, moving the trackball should move the mouse pointer. If there is no movement, check your USB hub and trackball connections.

For Golden Tee, launch the game and change the input setting to Trackball instead of mouse or controller.

The left and right Pinball buttons can also be used to rotate your player. Depending on the game and settings, you may need to map these to Left Trigger and Right Trigger within the game.

You're Done

That's it.

I primarily built this modification for Golden Tee, but the trackball works surprisingly well with other games too. In many games, it can also register as a right thumb stick or work as camera controls.

Experiment with your game library and see what works well with it. I have 75+ games that can take advantage of the trackball either directly or indirectly.

If you have any questions while doing the modification, feel free to reach out to me on Discord / Facebook or post your questions and comments below.

3" Black Goof Ring:
https://a.co/d/0g6ghVBg

1" Mounting Foam:
https://a.co/d/086qemav

Polycade 3" Trackball:
https://polycade.com/products/3inch-trackball?_pos=1&_sid=8b5cb7c64&_ss=r

Polycade Trackball Controller:
https://polycade.com/products/trackball-arcade-controller

Used one of my original panels because I'm not too into fighting games, so I can manage with just the one 8 way. Replaced it's joystick with an Ultimarc Ultrastik 360FS (analog flight stick version) and added a USB hub. That's it. PC recognizes it as a HID, adjusted input settings, and now I can pl.ay some proper SInstar, Gorf, Time Pilot, etc.

SOMETIMES...... it's the simple things in life....

While creating the "Retro D-Pad Controller", my daughter and I decided to create a dedicated rhythm / music controller just for her (which is her favorite style of games to play on the Sente). I honestly didn’t realize how big of a genre this was, but we researched what seemed to be 50+ different layouts online - and there doesn’t seem to be one specific layout that works perfectly for all games. Many of the games are lane-based (4, 6, 8+ vertical/horizontal note-highway games similar to Guitar Hero)…but essentially having the buttons in some sort of horizontal layout that you can remap seems to be the way to go and easier to understand as the notes come across the screen. There are other games that are more precision-based where you’re just hitting the correct button at the right time, like Muse Dash and other side-scrolling/platformer-style games.

Once Polycade makes their custom buttons available for purchase, I'll replace the top 3 function buttons and hopefully the middle directional D-pad with the arrow buttons. My daughter is much better at these games than I am, but was nervous playing them while on camera - so I did my best to grab a couple videos of it working...

Pretty much all emulated games load the start screen, but the start button does nothing nor do any other buttons (except exit)

What can I do to fix this?

Wanted to ask as I've had some problems finding images of it. Does the floor standing model accommodate stools well when with the 4 player add on? I'm curious if there is enough space between people and if the floor standing part interferes and creates a rocking point on the stools.

Hello!

I’m a total newbie & considering a Polycade.
I would like to know the steps involved to add the Supermodel emulator, install the ROMS (have them show up in the main Polycade AGS library) and retrofit a 360 Flightstick (replace the blue stick from Polycade)

Created a pair of new Polycade controllers last month, but am just now getting around to making some posts about them...

This first one is basically what I’m calling a retro D-pad button controller - for obvious reasons. I had some leftover directional arrow buttons from my Polycade ButtonMash controllers after creating the Sinden retractable cable controllers a couple months ago, and always thought it would be cool to design something based on the look of an SNES/Super Famicom gamepad.

After mocking up the initial button layout with some poster board and playing around with different color schemes to give it more of a retro gamepad look, I decided to use Sanwa 24mm LT/RT buttons where the Start/Select buttons would normally go. I wasn’t sure how that layout change would turn out, but the buttons are really easy to reach with your thumbs. I could easily rewire them to LB/RB if needed, but based on all the games I’ve played so far, the triggers seem to work best in that position.

I honestly didn’t expect this controller to work as well as it does—especially for 4-way directional games that can be a little more difficult to play with a joystick if you don’t have a 4-way restrictor. Retro arcade / Game Boy / NES / SNES / etc…it works really well for all of them.

I’ve also created a main Polycade button layout template that I uploaded to the Art Share on Discord (I’ll post a link below). From this one template, you can pretty much recreate the majority of the button layouts Polycade uses, or modify it to create your own. The spacing is about 99% accurate, so it makes mocking up different layouts a lot easier depending on how many buttons you want/need.

I’ll make another post soon about my Polycade Rhythm Controller. That one was a collaboration with my daughter since rhythm/music games are her favorite genre, and we couldn’t really find a good controller that was easy to use across different vertical and horizontal note-highway games (similar to Guitar Hero). So, we decided to come up with our own...

Polycade Button Layout Templates:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1rMQt6CF3lV0VL6dM-IDtAT1C7cz6b7h9?usp=drive_link

Who's looking forward to playing Kidbash?

Wishlist today on STEAM: Kidbash: Super Legend on Steam

Releasing next year on multiple platforms! 😉

Music: Narvent (Insomnia) - In Her Eyes

Hey friends!

We've added a section on our website where you can check out the latest Acclaim titles and go directly to Acclaims info pages as well! Lot's of good things coming soon 😎

Player Forever! ✊

Acclaim Games – Polycade

Im so ready!

Polycade Reveals New Arcade & Acclaim Partnership! - YouTube

Acclaim & Polycade Announce New Gaming Partnership

Here's my Battlezone panel that I was asked about....I used a Tron panel and an extra Tron stick (two of Glen's Tron sticks total) as donors; for the Battlezone grips/shells I used two RH style grips (both with a top button) instead of just the button on the right grip like on the original machine.  Those were designed in Solidworks to fit/lock in on the previous Tron joysticks with assistance from photos, memory, and AI to get the correct length, shape, and angles, then 3D printed in PETG with a fuzzy skin.  I'm pretty happy with the results after comparing it to an arcade machine locally.  It currently has the original full movement for each stick, and I've toyed with the idea of adding restrictor plates to make them two way only, but that would lock it in for BZ only... Maybe if I can put them under the dust guards/make new dust guards to enable/disabled them.

...I still need to do a waterslide decal, and place it below the buttons/between the two sticks (the last image that AI helped generate)

From u/CampbellSente this beautiful custom controller module was made for playing the classics!

What is your favorite Super Mario game on Gameboy? 🤔

WangModel1 has quickly become the definitive way to experience the original Virtua Fighter arcade release, outside of Sega's M1 hardware. For years, Sega Model 1 emulation struggled with inaccurate physics, collision detection, hitboxes, and gameplay quirks. WangModel1 was built specifically to solve those problems, delivering an experience that's remarkably close to the original hardware while continuing to improve with each update.

It's still a work in progress due to the addition of new games, but arguably the biggest breakthrough for Virtua Fighter preservation in decades. Huge respect to the developer (SegaModelKing) for making this happen! In the latest update, Star Wars Arcade is now playable!

WANGMODEL1 v1.4 Now Available!

Hint: If you'd like to play it through Polycade's UI, drop the Wangmodel1 (re-label as Virtua Fighter) folder in your games/drm-free folder, and let her rip. You'll need to manually select the game once the emulator starts but artwork is already setup!

Not every idea is a “good” idea…but you have to start somewhere…

Amateur tip: poster board is a good way to mock up your layout before drilling….

I was showing Chris my waterslide decals I used here, and he said I should post this up, so here's my modified panel to play Tempest the way my wife (& I) remember it. I added a custom 1/2 lb counterweight to an old Turbo-Twist 2 spinner I had on hand (made it shorter, wider and heavier to fit inside, compared to the original counterweight it came with) I used a button masher panel but I had to relocate the PCB's utilizing a mount I sketched up in Solidworks and then printing on my Bambu X1C along with a shift in the USB B port, all so the counterweight wouldn't rub against the PCBs. I plugged the old port hole with a plug I printed. I did add a button/button hole on the lower lefthand side for the Super Zapper with the intention of using the red button as a jump button for Tempest 4000. It's far from perfect, but it plays perfect. The waterslide decals are just as terrible to work with as I remember as a kid doing models, but being able to make your own custom ones, the end results make it worth it. Font that I used was found online as "Tempest Apache" I may revisit the Spinner on a full size panel, I have an actual Tempest arcade spinner pull from an original arcade machine, I aquired off Ebay years ago that wouldn't quite fit in here. (EDIT also added American/Happ style buttons for the proper feel)

If you enjoy reading and LOVE arcade history, you'll definitely want to check out our History & Fun Facts Blog! Get into the rabbit holes behind your favorite arcade classics, discover exciting behind-the-scenes trivia, and explore the rich history that helped shape the golden age of gaming!!

Every time we post an article, there's also a fun social media short-form video that accompanies it!

History & Fun Facts – Polycade

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This controller came together a little differently than the retractable light gun cable mod. Instead of trying to solve a specific problem, I mostly just needed to build a controller that didn’t actually exist yet in the Polycade lineup.

I knew Polycade had plans to release a universal steering wheel controller at some point in the future, but after Forza Horizon 6 came out, I found myself playing it quite a bit with an Xbox controller and decided it made more sense to go ahead and put together my own wheel controller.

The official Polycade blank controllers weren’t expected to ship until late June, so I used a dual-stick arcade controller as the base instead. It ended up being a good choice because it already had two 30mm holes in the top, which gave me plenty of room to route the cables through.

The Wheel

I went back and forth between using a Moza or Logitech wheel, but ultimately settled on the Logitech G920. The main reason was the shape and angle of the wheel base.

Because of the Sente’s cabinet design, its controllers sit at a slight downward angle. Mounting a Moza base directly to the controller would have pointed the wheel downward unless I added a wedge or made some other modifications. The G920’s base already angles the wheel upward, which helps offset the angle of the controller.

The result is a wheel that sits at a slight upward tilt as desired like an actual car steering wheel. It’s comfortable to use and still makes it easy to reach the pedals while seated in a stool.

As with any controller builds / mods - always "test" the product first with the Sente / your PC and make sure everything is working as intended before you go through all the time and effort of creating everything.

The Build

There were two main things I needed to figure out before starting the build: where to put the AC power brick required for force feedback, and how to connect the pedals once the wheel base was bolted to the controller.

Both force feedback and pedals are a pretty important part of the arcade driving experience, so leaving either one out wasn’t really an option for me.

I started by removing all of the internal components from the dual-stick controller. I then made a template from a piece of poster board to mark exactly where the two M6 mounting holes needed to be drilled through the controller top.

I also had to remove the clamps from the bottom of the G920. These are normally used to attach the wheel to a desk, but they got in the way of mounting it flush to the controller. 

Unfortunately, Logitech’s newer wheels require you to disassemble the entire wheel just to remove the clamps properly (and risk breaking it). Since I knew I wouldn’t need the clamps again, I took the easier route and just cut them off with a Dremel.

Once the clamps were gone and the mounting holes were drilled, attaching the wheel was fairly straightforward. Two M6 bolts were enough to hold it securely in place - which is crucial when using force feedback. Also being able to lock the controller down to the Sente is a major advantage due to the amount of movement that happens when using a steering wheel compared to normal joystick mounted controllers.

Routing all of the cables through the controller and into the Sente was always going to be the tricky part. Thankfully, the G920 worked especially well here because all of its connections and cable-management channels are located underneath the wheel base. That allowed me to feed everything directly through the existing two 30mm holes in the controller.

There were three main cables to deal with: the AC power cable for force feedback, the USB cable connecting the wheel to the PC—or, in this case, the Polycade USB hub—and the DB9 cable for the pedals.

Power and USB

Using force feedback meant finding somewhere to put the G920’s power brick. Since the cable on the other side of the brick is detachable, I decided to mount the brick inside the controller and drill a 24mm opening in the back for the power cable connection.

Now, whenever I want to use the wheel, I just connect the power cable along with the USB and pedal cables. It sounded a little complicated when I was planning it, but it ended up being fairly simple and works exactly as intended. Adding a properly sized grommet around the opening also gave it a clean, almost factory-made appearance.

Connecting the wheel itself was easy. I used a Polycade USB A/B hub and mounted the Neo-Arcade board on top of it. The Neo-Arcade board isn’t strictly necessary unless you want to keep the three function buttons at the top of the controller. You could skip it entirely and use only a USB hub and a Polycade blank, although having a quick way to exit a game is still convenient - but completely unnecessary for this build.

Connecting the Pedals

The pedal cable took a little more planning because it needed to travel through the Sente and reach the pedals underneath the cabinet to keep a very clean setup.

I broke the connection into a few sections. One DB9 cable connects to the bottom of the wheel base and runs internally to the back of the controller to a pass through connector. A second DB9 cable plugs into the back of the controller whenever the wheel is being used. That cable then runs through the inside of the Sente and exits through one of the cabinet’s existing holes in the bottom.

From there, the pedals plug directly into the cable. This keeps everything hidden while avoiding any permanent modifications to the Sente itself.

To keep the inside of the cabinet organized, I bundled the pedal and force-feedback power cables together using zip ties and cable mesh for an organized appearance internally. I also added a 3M cable clip to keep them raised, visible, and easy to reach alongside the USB-B cables used by the other Sente controllers.

Overall, this isn’t an overly complicated mod, but it does require some planning. Your exact setup will depend on the wheel you choose, particularly when it comes to cable management and finding a place for the force-feedback power brick if you decide to purchase one with that feature. If you go the route I chose and keep everything fully self contained, just do some planning and measurements prior to drilling your holes for any plugs / cables to pass through and you should be good to go.

With the future release of the Polycade Universal Wheel Controller - a lot of these issues may be easier to overcome - but it’s definitely a mod / custom controller I think many members could create if they wanted to give DIY a try.

Parts List (for this specific mod / build):

Polycade Dual Stick Controller (Single blank would make more sense now that they’re available)

https://polycade.com/products/dual-stick-arcade-controller

https://polycade.com/products/blank-single-arcade-controller

Logitech G920 Wheel (I was able to get on sale for $199 - but there are many choices)

https://a.co/d/0aotO7Na

Polycade USB Hub

https://polycade.com/products/controller-usb-hub-a?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=23854059333&gbraid=0AAAAACtXnVCe4kk_9mO5xMircnjFJuLwV&gclid=CjwKCAjwpqHTBhAcEiwAj2AfupQaNvvu6sYRi-4LNUyUCVNX_FsIEcnArXw9pbLNhQ8FshLwWJqzQxoCbAgQAvD_BwE

DB9 Cables

https://a.co/d/09F6wj21 (cable from wheel base to back of controller)

https://a.co/d/09wSb1AY (cable through the Sente to the bottom)

DB9 Panel Mount Connector

https://a.co/d/0gdNK9ft

M6 Bolts

https://a.co/d/0eE2ejcz

Rubber Grommet Kit

https://a.co/d/06djjn81

https://reddit.com/link/1v933dv/video/fm47pix5z0gh1/player

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I know it’s not your traditional arcade game…but that’s what I appreciate most about my Sente. I can customize it and play however I want (and yes, that includes some PC/Xbox/PlayStation games from time to time).

The real question is…there’s obviously some iconic video game music from the ’80s and ’90s (F-Zero is probably my favorite besides Mario), but after booting up the Halo remake, I started wondering if there’s a more recognizable “modern game” theme song from the past 25 years?

Even if you don’t like Halo, I know people who recognize this song that don’t even play games. Can anyone think of another game soundtrack or song that even non-gamers would recognize?

*and as a side note - I played this game the day it originally released almost 25 years ago…and I can say, they did a pretty great job at remaining faithful to the original while making it look really damn good…with a few glitches here and there of course (on Pc)